Friedman Says the Ask for Duncan Keith From Chicago has Been Ethan Bear or Ryan McLeod

Coming from an Edmonton Oilers point of view, BLH provides you with excerpts from the latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation from all of the internet’s best sites including Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, The Athletic, TSN and more!

Give us a follow on the socials!

From Lowetide.ca

THREE DAYS IN AUGUST

THIS YEAR’S PRONGER, PECA

The Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks are the top candidates to make a Pronger or Joe Thornton trade this summer.

From those teams, possibly available talents include Jack Eichel, John Gibson, Jakob Chychrun. Anyone else? I’d love to see Gibson in Edmonton and Chychrun is exceptional when healthy. Not sure Eichel can be afforded.

JAMES NEAL BUYOUT

Jim Matheson checked with Neal’s agent and it’s crickets over there, and of course Edmonton has multiple buyout candidates (Mikko Koskinen, Kyle Turris, Zack Kassian).

We may also see some bloated contracts traded for each other, although I’m dubious about the idea. Zack Kassian for Paul Byron, or Kassian for Brett Connolly is interesting, but these are all men with something circled in red on their resumes at this time.

VLADIMIR TARASENKO

Injury is an issue, and the $7.5 million times two on the contract also noteworthy. James Neal’s contract is $5.75 million times two, that’s a $2 million risk that you can justify. St. Louis will get better offers, in fact my guess is there are teams willing to take on the entire deal in exchange for very little in the way of assets heading to Missouri.

BLH’s Thoughts: I think the LA Kings are one of the teams rumored to be interested in Tarasenko and they could take on his deal AND give St. Louis some decent futures for the Russian. I loath the idea of Edmonton having to face a line that features Viktor Arvidsson, Anze Kopitar, and Vladimir Tarasenko multiple times a year…

I don’t care what you say, the minute Holland deals Kassian, he’ll be looking for another one. I think the other question that has to be asked, who in Edmonton’s bottom-six can step up and play in the top-six on the right wing if a Jesse Puljujarvi gets hurt or a Kailer Yamamoto can’t find his scoring touch again? Kassian can and to a lesser extent, Josh Archibald, I suppose, but Kassian has a much longer track record of being able to handle those minutes.

Now, if the Oilers want to make their “Pronger deal”, the fans had better be prepared to lose a couple of VERY good prospects. I’m talking an Evan Bouchard, a Philip Broberg, or a Dylan Holloway, and by all accounts the team is not interested in losing those very valuable assets. Think about it, if Holland is unwilling to deal Ryan McLeod and Ethan Bear, can you see him moving more substantial blue chippers?

From NHLRumors.com

NHL Rumors: Vladimir Tarasenko – Islanders, Rangers and Bruins

Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins are trying to re-sign pending UFAs David Krejci, Taylor Hall and Tuukka Rask.

Could the Boston Bruins be interested Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko? Imagine a second line of Hall-Krejci-Tarasenko.

Being able to fit in Tarasenko’s $7.5 million salary wouldn’t be easy and they may not be on his trade list that he may have submitted to the Blues.

Given his salary and shoulder issues over the past few seasons, it will lower his trade value. There are several other star players on the trade market this offseason as well which may also lessen the acquiring cost. He still may not come cheap though.

Would it take a first-round pick, Jake DeBrusk, and maybe St. Louis native Trent Frederic to land Tarasenko?

What if the Bruins also tried to get left-handed Vince Dunn in the deal? He’s been linked to the Bruins before.

BLH’s Thoughts: Haggerty seems a tad hopeful with Boston’s second line there, don’t you think? Is Hall signing for $4M/yr? What’s Krejci going to get, $1M?… Come on… Frank Seravalli was on TSN1260 Friday Morning with Lowetide and he’s saying Tarasenko has fully recovered and is healthy and ready to go… So maybe that proposal above will end up being close to what the Blues get for the Russian winger.

If you were the Oilers, would you offer one of Kailer Yamamoto or Jesse Puljujarvi, a first round pick, and Ryan McLeod for Tarasenko? I wouldn’t.

From Sportsnet

31 Thoughts: Where NHL’s Olympic participation stands as off-season begins

4. Chicago and Edmonton have been grinding away on a Duncan Keith deal for almost two weeks now, and we’re getting to the point of, “Does this happen, or not?” It’s believed Edmonton’s turned down some of the asks, such as Ethan Bear and/or Ryan McLeod. There’s definitely a desire for finality.

BLH’s Thoughts: I hope the title of today’s post goes over a bit better than the one I muffed up yesterday…

The ball is in Chicago’s court now. I’m very interested in seeing how they counter here.

5. I also believe the Oilers have begun talking to Darnell Nurse about an extension. He’s eligible this summer, with one more season before unrestricted free agency. In goal, it sounds like they are juggling multiple balls, from Mike Smith to someone younger.

BLH’s Thoughts: That Nurse extension is going to be of the utmost importance. Would you do $8Mx8yrs or try to get his number down a bit to something more team friendly?

If Smith is going to play hardball with Ken Holland, he should really take another moment to contemplate that choice. The Oilers have a lot of options when it comes to goaltenders this year, possibly including the one in the next point…

14. Goaltending situation to watch: will Carolina qualify Alex Nedeljkovic? It seems crazy to ask, but there are rumours the Hurricanes are not crazy about his arbitration award potential. I’m not always good with comparables, but Vancouver’s extension with Thatcher Demko put his last two non-UFA seasons at $2.5 million and $4.5 million (including a $1-million signing bonus). Same situation Carolina’s going through with Warren Foegele. There’s been a lot of interest with him.

BLH’s Thoughts: When’s the last time the Edmonton Oilers made an impact in the playoffs with a homegrown netminder? Do we have to go back to the days of Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr? I mean, Bill Ranford was brought in from Boston and Curtis Joseph was a UFA. Dwayne Roloson as traded for as was Cam Talbot.

It does seem insane to me that the Hurricanes would walk away from Nedeljkovic after spending all this time developing him and with the season he’s just had. However, he’d be the perfect goalie to join Edmonton and its young core.

15. One Coyote who teams definitely are interested in: centre Christian Dvorak. He’s signed for four more years at $4.45 million — although it is back-ended. He’s a good centre, and they are valued.

BLH’s Thoughts: Not to be too nitpicky, but it’s a shame Dvorak isn’t a righty. Who couldn’t use a third line center who puts up 30+ points a year consistently thought?

That said, I do remember asking a prominent member of the Oilers media about Dvorak and being told in, no uncertain terms, there was no way the Coyotes would deal him. I suppose things have changed on that front.

29. Commissioner Bettman mentioned the possibility of a Heritage Classic next March. The last time this was on the radar for Canada, Edmonton was the desired city. The Oilers hosted the first one, and it’s their time once again.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’ll be honest, these kinds of events do nothing for me. I’ve never been to an outdoor event like that nor would I probably ever go considering the distance from my seat to the rink, but these games generate a lot of buzz (and money) for the host city and it’s hard to argue against that.

Is there not a collective belief in Edmonton that the organization wants to wait until the ICE District is finished?